Christopher Columbus: An American Hero

Christopher Columbus achieved remarkable success in the New World by discovering new lands and presenting an opportunity for new development. Over the course of four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, Columbus ignited the conquest and colonization of land in the New World. He recorded his experiences in journals and letters for future navigators and sailors to read and learn from. The benefits that arose from his expeditions were known as the Columbian Exchange, which included the transfer of people, resources, and culture, all of which significantly impacted society worldwide. His world changing legacy impacted the development of the territory in the New World and increased trade, resources, and economic stability for Europe.

When you think of Columbus what comes to mind? A hero? A villain? Most people think he is a hero, but many do not think of the things he did to people such as slavery, beatings, raping, etc. He is most known for discovering America, but he only got to the Bahamas. Columbus was an Italian explorer that sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Columbus Day should not be celebrated because of the awful things that don’t make up for the discoveries that Christopher Columbus did.

After many centuries, a lot of controversy still surrounds Christopher Columbus. He remains to be a strange figure in history regarded as a famous explorer and a great mariner who made many discoveries in his days. Other people still regard him as a visionary and a national hero while others chose to remember him as a brutal and greedy person who used the rest of the humanity for his own selfish gains. Despite the fact that there have been protests in his being honored through a holiday referred to as the Columbus Day, he still deserves recognition and acknowledgement as a historical figure performed a great role in the making of the modern world.

Christopher Columbus is commonly known as the “discoverer” of the Americas. From a young age students are taught all the wonderful things he did for our land and how well he interacted with the Natives. Although the truth is disregarded and as students grow, they come to learn that Columbus was not a hero in fact. Columbus came close to causing a genocide of the Native Americans, and basically began the “white power” movement that America is forced to deal with today. The truth of what Christopher Columbus did makes him no better than Hitler, yet America still praises him as an important figure in our history. The actions of Columbus has impacted all Americans lives since the 1400’s when he first landed on American soil. Although it did make America into the super power it is today, the structure within the borders will never be equal because of his abuse of power back then. Christopher Columbus is not the hero American students are taught from a young age and does not deserve any of the praise or recognition that we as American citizens continue to give him on a daily basis.

It is thought by many that Christopher Columbus was a skilled sailor on a mission of greed. Many think that he in fact did it all for the money, honor and the status that comes with an explorer, but this is not the case entirely. Columbus was an adventurer and was enthused by the thrill of the quest of the unknown. “Columbus had a firm religious faith and a scientific curiosity, a zest for life, the felling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning”. He had heard of the legendary Atlantic voyages and sailors reports of land to the west of Madeira and the Azores. He believed that Japan was about 4,800 km to the west of Portugal. In 1484, Columbus wanted support for an exploratory

Throughout many recent years, there has been a great deal of speculation about whether we should celebrate Columbus Day; whether Christopher Columbus, the man with a holiday named after him, the man who “discovered” America, was really hero. There are people who claim that Columbus was, in fact, someone to be celebrated. This is false. Christopher Columbus was, most blatantly put, a villain. He deserves this status because he did not discover the land now known as America, he forced his beliefs onto others, and he utterly destroyed the lives of unknowing, innocent people.

For more than five centuries Americans have lifted Christopher Columbus to heights of greatness and god-like. We celebrate his life as though he was a man that had done us a great favor. In resent years Christopher Columbus has come under scrutiny, his life and works being questioned more than celebrated. There have be many great men and women that contributed to the building of our great nation but they do not receive anywhere as much recognition as Columbus. When a person begins to study the actual accounts of the "finding of the New World" they begin to wonder if Columbus should adored or hated for his actions. As a child I was taught that Columbus was a great man that had accomplished great things for the sake of humanity, but in

Through his time on the ocean he achieved many things, including the finding of the Americas, which was one of his greater achievements, that have changed the world as we know it. A world without Columbus would be effectively unimaginable, his achievements have shaped the modern world entirely effectively leading to the colonization of the Americas. A world without him would also allow for the thriving of the native civilizations compared the the great dying that happened to the indigenous people of the Americas. Christopher Columbus was a great explorer and was able to lead to the eye opening influence that is from America, though his great achievements did lead to the death of many the eventual lead to the progress of the greater

Christopher Columbus was famous for being the man to “discover” the New World. In America, he is widely revered as the man responsible for finding the country that exists today. Although well known for his admirable sailing skills and abilities, Christopher Columbus was anything but a hero and his legacy was nothing but a mere miscalculation. There is much more to the story of the explorer than what we were taught to believe was true. The only thing that was true was that he discovered a land that was not yet known by the “civilized” world. However, that does not cover up for the fact he was a murderer who basically erased the existence of the natives who inhabited the land previous to their arrival. To believe that every history textbook depicts him as this legendary person who discovered the Americas and his bravery was well recognized by the people that we created a

Columbus 'accidently' discovered the New World, although, there were several who came before him. His discovery ultimately resulted in life as we know it today. However, in my opinion, he was not a hero, but a villain who removed the Natives from their home and infected them with diseases of which they had no immunity against. Although Columbus' voyage to the Americas eventually paved the way for the establishment of the New World, it came with a price. Unfortunately, the Natives were the victims of it all.

For most of American history, Christopher Columbus was regarded as a hero by all American people. However, in recently light, people have started to question the actions of their idoled founder, and scrutinize his treatment of the native people. His “discovery” of the Americas certainly is nothing to downplay as it expanded the borders of enlightened thinking, but the subhuman ways he treated the Native Americans is also impossible to ignore. While his exploration resulted in the development of the modern Americas, were all his means necessary and worth it? Christopher Columbus was an expert navigator who sparked the collide of the known world to a whole new land of opportunity; however, the merger resulted in mass genocide from inexcusable

Although the feats of Columbus were significant and greatly beneficial to society, the question may be raised at this point on why the controversy surrounding Columbus even exists, seeing the substantial contributions Columbus made to society, both of then and now. The

“A hero. You want to be one of those rare human beings who make history, rather than merely watch it flow around them like water around a rock.” Dan Simmons wanted to reflect on the many notable historical figures in our past who were recognized for their courageous traits, leadership ingenuity, and outstanding discoveries that sparked from one individual who was willing to make a change. Christopher Columbus precisely fits the depicted portrait of a hero. Through any given perspective from Europeans during that epoch to our world five centuries later, we see that Columbus was the epitome of the valiant figure, invoking change for the revitalization of Europe and South America as a whole, and igniting the exploration age and philosophical ideas through his heroic actions.

Cristoforo Colombo, or commonly known today as, Christopher Columbus, was a navigator, sailor, and a coloniser. Columbus’ influences on discovering a new route to the Indies revolved around many books such as, Livres des merveilles du monde (Book of the Marvels of the world), published by Marco Polo and many other sailors. He was thought to be born on 31st October 1451 in Genoa, Republic of Genoa, but historians have not in fact corroborated this to be true. Filipa Moniz Perestrello was the wife of Columbus and the son of two wool weavers named Domenico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa. He was famous for accidently finding, then colonising The New World, or commonly known today as, America. It has been commonly thought that Columbus was the first person to discover America, but Lief Erikson, a Viking of a few centuries prior to Columbus’ time, discovered America first. Christopher Columbus perished from gout in 1506.

After regaining his strength, without money or position, Columbus made his way to Lisbon where he arrived in 1477. Soon after he arrived, he began sailing for Italian merchants to Northern Atlantic ports. His travels kept him busy with trips as far away as Iceland. However, Columbus did find the time to meet and marry Felipa Perestrello of Portugal. In their brief marriage, Columbus fathered a son before his wife died, only two years after they first met. Later, he would have another son out of wedlock.